Marine Returns, Son With Cerebral Palsy Walks for First Time

A North Carolina Marine got a shocking welcome home from his son, who suffers from cerebral palsy, when the young boy walked to his father on his own for the first time.

Author:
kjac

Published:
10:46 AM CDT May 12, 2012

Updated:
10:46 AM CDT May 12, 2012

A North Carolina Marine got a shocking welcome home from his son, who suffers from cerebral palsy, when the young boy walked to his father on his own for the first time.

When Staff Sgt. Jeremy Cooney was deployed, his 6-year-old son could not walk. What he didn't know was that the boy learned to walk while his father was serving in Afghanistan.

The heartwarming video was posted by Cooney's wife Melissa Cooney on WelcomeHomeBlog.com, a website for videos of surprise military homecomings.

"When my husband left on his deployment, our 6-year-old son could not walk on his own," Melissa Cooney wrote on the site. "He has cerebral palsy. Doctors originally said that he would never walk or do much of anything. While daddy was away, he learned to walk. For his homecoming, we set it up for Michael to walk to his daddy for the first time ever! We kept the fact that he could walk a secret the whole time his dad was gone!"

The family could not be reached to comment. Cerebral palsy is a brain disorder that causes physical and mental disabilities.

In the video, Sgt. Cooney crouched down and watched in amazement as his son walked toward him when they saw each other in a gym at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune. When the boy was within arm's reach, Cooney scooped him up in his arms and the two shared a long hug.

Melissa Cooney and three other children held welcome-home posters and then joined in the hug. When Melissa Cooney walked to the camera after the hugging with her 6-year-old son in her arms, she asked him a question, but his eyes were focused on his father.

"He's like, ‘I'm not taking my eyes off of daddy,'" Cooney said with a laugh.